it's time again for my quarterly "What Are You Reading Now?" thread. As you know, I consider Freepers to be among the most well-read of those of us on the Internet and I like to see what other Freepers are reading these days.

It can be anything - a classic novel, a trashy pulp romance, a technical journal, etc. Please do not deile this thread by posting "I'm reading this thread". it became very unfunny a long time ago.

I'll start. I'm just finishing "Chancellorsville 1863: The Souls of the Brave" by Ernest Furgurson. It's OK. Nothing to rave about though.

Omgosh, when my son and I read Swiss Family Robinson, and we are both kinda Swiss, we laughed our heads off all the time. You can tell it was written on cold Swiss days inside by a fire where the author had some nature books and made up everything not in the books. The snake walking up the path erect! The fact that Of Course a Swiss on a tropical island would find some “wild potatoes” growing that could form the base of their diet. Enjoy! It’s sweet.

Tell me about The Real George Washington. What is the gist of the book?

It's mostly a straight biography -- very little interpretation or commentary -- that tells much of the story in GW's own words (from letters, diaries, etc.).

It's a very positive view of his life -- none of that "the founders were greedy and trashy individuals" spin here. He's presented as one who deserved the sobriquet "father of his country," and that's backed up with facts. He was truly one in a million.

The second part of the book (about a quarter) is a collection of Washington's writings arranged by subject; it's a good reference.

I was at a conference last Feb and it looks like they have a big boo boo with their global warming models. They were treating water vapor incorrectly and the catastrophic warming is no longer in the cards.

My grown daughter is still at home. My grown son is not into the books, but his wife is, so we all have some good discussions when we get together. My son and his wife are busy this weekend with a "Disc World" convention that they helped organize. May be one of Terry Pratchett's last conventions. DIL is a huge Terry Pratchett fan. She loaned us some of the books, so that we'd be familiar with his work, too. I enjoyed Night Watch the most, of the 5-6 she loaned us.

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posted on 07/09/2011 6:16:01 AM PDT
by knittnmom
(Save the earth! It's the only planet with chocolate!)

I could not put down “Empire of the Summer Moon”. Easily my favorite Indian read; plus no white guilt. The author bought history alive; I felt I was on the Southern plains riding with the Commanche or the Texas Ranger.

Swiss on a tropical island would find some wild potatoes growing that could form the base of their diet. Enjoy!

I have to roll my eyes at some of the things in the book. As a graduate of AF Survival School, I've spent days trying to find something other than bugs to eat. These folks just stumble into lobsters, potatoes, wild birds, turtle eggs, coconuts, and pineapples. Everything they find is ripe.

He seemed to be hungry while writing that book! They ate like kings! I cold just picture this shut in Swiss guy at the turn of the century, dreaming of his warm tropical paradise. I believe he also roped ostriches from the island and used them as horses. It’s soooo funny.

We had to reread the parts about the snake slithering upright like a human several times to gales of laughter each time!

5 is the one that came out today, there are going to be 2 more. i think there’s one spot were Jon’s mother is mentioned, by name, but there’s no real detail. you get a little more if you watch the series on HBO, but it’s still very vague.

because ned’s so closed mouthed about it, i’ve heard tons of speculation.

only her name.
other theories include rhaegar/lyanna; there’s a reference to some royal that killed herself not long after eddard left her castle; a nameless maid; one suggests brandon and one of the targaryns (long shot, he’d have had to be a little older than he is, but it’s possible); and there’s a couple others i forget.

not robert though, john has the same hair as eddard and arya- one of katlyn’s biggest problems with him is he looks more like eddard than any of her sons- plus the link to the wolves.

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